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Constitutional Court rejects judicial review of Papua referendum
Reading out its ruling in a hearing presided over by Chief Justice Anwar Usman, the court said the judicial review application was “illogical” as it attempted to review the Act of Free Choice, which was acknowledged by the United Nations General Assembly under Resolution No. 2504 (XXIV).
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Representatives from the Coalition of Advocates for Truth and Justice for Papua file a petition for a judicial review of Law No 12/1969 on the establishment of West Irian autonomous province and autonomous regencies in West Irian province at the Constitutional Court last year. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he Constitutional Court rejected on Monday a petition for a judicial review of several articles of Law No. 12/1969 on the establishment of the West Irian autonomous province and autonomous regencies in West Irian province.
West Irian was the former name of the Indonesian part of Papua Island. The 1969 law is the legal basis of Papua’s integration with Indonesia after the end of Dutch colonial rule.
The judicial review was filed by dozens of lawyers, academics, Papuan leaders, churches and women’s organizations under the Coalition of Advocates for Truth and Justice in Papua.
They challenged the articles in the law that stipulate the 1969 Act of Free Choice (Pepera) as the manifestation of the people's aspirations made with full awareness. The coalition asserted that only 1,025 of 800,000 Papuans voted in the referendum under Indonesian military pressure.
Reading out its ruling in a hearing presided over by Chief Justice Anwar Usman, the court said the judicial review application was “illogical” as it attempted to review the Act of Free Choice, which was acknowledged by the United Nations General Assembly under Resolution No. 2504 (XXIV).
“To postulate any violation of constitutional rights under the 1969 Papuan referendum is equal to forcing the Constitutional Court to question the legitimacy of the United Nations,” Anwar said, reading the ruling.
Yan Pieter Yarangga, the head of the Papua Customary Council and one of the petitioners, said that the coalition had expected the rejection. He said that the judicial review application was part of the coalition’s larger effort to uncover the history of Papua and raise public awareness on the issue.
